Start Getting Rich!

On Tuesday, Parashat Beshalach, January 25,
2008 at 1 PM, my colleague, Mr. Chaim-Yedidya Fischer, told me that date
presented a special opportunity to gain a blessing for one's livelihood. There
is an orally transmitted tradition going back to the Chassidic Rebbe Menachem-Mendel
of Riminov (1755-1815) that one obtains a blessing for material bounty by
reading the Torah verses (Exodus 16:4-36) describing the manna on the Tuesday
of the week of Parashat Beshalach [in 2012: Jan. 31 –- Ed.].
Manna is the food that came from Heaven and sustained the Israelites during
their 40 years in the desert. Manna is the food that came from Heaven and sustained the Israelites during
their 40 years in the desert.
Many people read Parashat ha-mon ("the section of the Manna") on a daily basis,
so you can draw on its benefits any day of the year. However, its powers to
bring down blessings are particularly strong on the Tuesday of Parashat
Beshalach, the weekly Torah portion that contains the verses.

I fleetingly thought that this was a nice custom and prepared to move on with my
day. But only three minutes later, at 1:03, I received a phone call from a
friend, a man in his fifties who had been out of work for many months. He was
having trouble finding a position commensurate with his qualifications that was
as good as his last job. I had been concerned about the strain he was under. He
announced that this week he had gotten an excellent position and felt that he
had to call me today to share the good news.

Whoa! That got my attention. Coincidence? I went back to Mr. Fischer and told
him the story. He reciprocated by giving me a copy of the Torah reading about
the manna, with an accompanying prayer for a blessing for livelihood. He added
that this custom had been popularized by "a revered rabbi in Brooklyn," who said
that it is an oral tradition from Reb Menachem Mendel of Riminov.

To place the Riminover in context: he was a student of Rabbi Elimelech of
Lyzhinsk (1717-1787), known as "the Rebbe Reb Meilech," one of the leading
students of the Maggid of Mezritch, successor to the Baal Shem Tov.
Three of Reb Meilech's students had a particularly powerful influence on the
development of the Chassidic movement in Galicia: The Riminover, the Chozeh
of Lublin and the Maggid of Koznitz. One of the Riminover's
students was Reb Naftali of Ropshitz, who in turn was the Rebbe of the Divrei
Chaim of Sanz.

I am a psychologist; I was on my way to visit a client of mine who was
depressed, who had been unable to motivate himself to seek work. I decided to
take with me the reading provided by Mr. Fischer. When I showed it to my client,
he pulled out his own copy, which had been distributed that morning in his
synagogue. We agreed to read the verses together.

My client said to me that he believed the "revered Rabbi in Brooklyn" who
popularized the custom was the Paya Rov, Rabbi Moshe-Dov Weinberger. Paya is the
Yiddish name for Opalyi, a village in Northeastern Hungary, 30 miles northwest
of Satmar.

After that appointment, I was scheduled to meet a colleague who is a Skverer
Chosid. When I mentioned to him the issue of Parashat ha-mon, he also
pulled out a copy that had been distributed in his synagogue that morning. He
told me that his grandfather, Rabbi Mordechai ("Max") Schwartz of Serdehel,
Slovakia, had survived the Holocaust and then was fortunate to become a very
wealthy man in New Square. He once asked his grandfather how he had become so
successful. His grandfather attributed it to the fact that he began every day by
reading a small portion of a book by Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov

That book, Menachem Zion, discusses the weekly readings of the Torah.
What is unique about the book is that the author relates each of his weekly
commentaries to Parashat ha-mon. For example, here is a very brief
synopsis of his very first essay. In Gen. (2:3) it says, "He blessed the seventh
day and sanctified it." What were the blessing and the sanctification?"He blessed it with manna and he sanctified it with
manna."
Explains the Riminover, "He blessed it with manna and he sanctified it with
manna." To "bless" means to give extra. Each day of the week, the Jews in the
desert had one omer (a measure) of manna. But for Shabbos, they were
provided a double portion, which fell on Friday. To "sanctify" means to make
separate or different. Shabbos was set apart by the fact that no manna fell or
was collected on Shabbos.

What does this mean in spiritual terms? Manna represents G‑d's helping us to
connect with Him through our limited intellectual powers of thought and speech;
just as manna is a gift from G‑d that we did not earn, so too is G‑d's helping
us to understand him through our intellect.

This concept is very similar to what the Alter Rebbe (of Chabad) says
about the words "Torat Chesed al l'shona" in Aishet Chayil. The
words "Torat Chesed" mean "a Torah of loving kindness." The Alter
Rebbe asks "what is the chesed referred to in this phrase? "He
answers that it is an act of loving kindness to us that G‑d put Himself into the
Torah in such a way that allows us to use Torah study as a means to get close to
Him.

During Shabbos, those intellectual powers are increased. Therefore, we are
advised that during the six days of the week we should focus on listening
rather than speaking, on learning established material rather than
teaching innovations, as preparation for Shabbos. Our capacity to give over and
to receive innovations (chidushim) is enhanced on Shabbos.

At 6 PM, I called the Paya Rov's home to verify the story and spoke with an
adult daughter. She said that her father confirmed the story: he had heard
of the tradition from his father, Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Weinberger, who had
heard it from Rabbi Avraham Sholom Halberstam, the son of the Shinover Rov,
Rabbi Yechezkel-Shraga Halberstam (1813-1898), who said that his father had
related the tradition in the name of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Riminov.

"Whoa" #2, #3 and #4. The ShinoverRov served for 7 years as the Rabbi of
the town from which my ancestors came, Stropkov, Slovakia. I am descended from
Weinbergers on both my father's and mother's side. And it appears that I
am a very distant cousin of this Paya Rov. Further, the Rabbi Avraham
Sholom Halberstam, just mentioned, took over from his father and became the
Rabbi of my ancestors' town of Stropkov.

I began to research some of the details and found a missing link in this chain.
Rabbi Menachem-Mendel of Riminov died in 1815, at which time the Shinover Rov
was two years old. So the Shinover Rov must have heard of the Riminover's
tradition from someone else. I called back the Paya Rov's household
and was told he assumed that the Shinover heard it from the gabbai
(personal attendant) and disciple-successor of the Riminover, Reb Tzvi-Hirsch.
At one time, the Shinover was a student of Reb Tzvi-Hirsch.

I spoke with the current Stropkover Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham-Sholom-Yissachar Dov
Halberstam of Jerusalem, who confirmed that there is a tradition in his family,
which the Shinover passed down in the name of the Riminover, that saying
Parashat ha-mon on the Tuesday of Parashat Beshalach is an auspicious
act for receiving blessings of livelihood.

At this point, I decided to write up the story and emailed it to my list of
friends.

I soon had a number of responses. One was from Rabbi Yosef Katzman of Crown
Heights, who directed me to a teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe for Parashat
Beshalach 5253 on this topic. (Likutei Sichos vol. 26, pp. 95-102)
The Rebbe documents the custom of reading Parashat ha-mon to strengthen
two qualities: one's faith (emunah) that all that we have comes from G‑d;
and one's trust and confidence (bitochon) in difficult times that G‑d
will provide our needs. The act of experiencing that faith and confidence is a
vessel that brings down blessings. The act of experiencing that faith and confidence is a
vessel that brings down blessings.
Nonetheless, the Rebbe sets some conditions on when Parashat ha-mon should
be read. He acknowledges that many prayer books contain Parashat ha-mon at
the end of the morning prayers. However, the Rebbe explains that the Alter Rebbe
followed the example of the Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Tzefat) and
did not include Parashat ha-mon in his siddur. His siddur
included primarily those prayers which could be traced back to the customs
initiated by the Men of the Great Assembly (at the time of Ezra the scribe, ca.
3426/335 BCE (see Pirkei Avot 1:1-2)).

Another response was from my previously un-employed friend. He called to say
that he was offered another job, by his former employer.
Apparently, the executive who had fired him was himself fired, and the new
administrator wanted him back. He has agreed to resume working for them, but as
an independent consultant. Thank you, Rabbi Menachem-Mendel of Riminov.

I have learned about three aspects of bounty. One, materially, is that
parashat ha-mon offers a blessing for livelihood, especially, but not only, on
Tuesday of Parashat Beshalach. Second, spiritually, saying
Parashat ha-mon can strengthen our faith and confidence. Third,
emotionally, there is benefit in following what stirs you emotionally. When
this story began, I did not know that this story would lead me to connections in
my family's personal history. I just felt a passionate stirring that I chose to
value.

May it be that our spiritual and emotional connections to Torah and its precious
words create a vessel for the ultimate bounty, with the coming of Moshiach, may
that be immediately NOW!

[Link here to the original Hebrew text of Parashat ha-Mon, voweled and with English translation.]

Dr. Yisroel Susskind is a clinical psychologist who practices locally in Monsey, New York, and internationally over the telephone. He can be reached via e‑mail (eysusskind@aol.com) or by phone (845-425-9531).